Folding method and product



June 28, 1927. 1,633,849

. w. L. DIXON FOLDING METHOD AND PRODUCT Filed June 1924 Z72 v e 72/??? Mm 88 Mm product,

June 28, 1927.

I UNITED STATES A resents PATENT OFF E WALTER L. DIXON, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR To 'REECE. romaine MA- CHINE oOMrANY, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION or MAINE.

FOLDING METHOD AND. PRODUCT.

Original application filed April. 3, 1925 Serial No. 703,951. Divided and this application filed June 9,

1924. Serial No. 718,834.

This invention involves a novelfolding method and product, the method referring to the infolding of the edges of cloth or other blanks, for example the cloth blanks used in the manufacture of collars and cuffs, and the product consisting of the folded blank or completed collar or other article embodying the novel fold of this invention. 2

proved method and product. of general and specificutility. A special object tofim prove the art of folding cloth blanks .for collars, cuffs and varions analogo us articles, A particular object is to. enable theeificient. and satisfactory manufacture of folded articles wherein one or more of the horners to be folded presents a fairly sharp angle, or an. acute angle, substantially. less than 90". Such corners have presented problems on ac.- count of the difficulty in producing a. satisfactory. fold and accommodating the excess of marginal material within thes-mall coinpass of the acute'angle, without causing; ex; cessive thickness or producing bunching of material which would often render aproduct uncommercial or at least require ad.- ditional labor and cost in, trimming; the; ex; cess material. Other and further objects the present invention willy-be 'expljained in the hereinafter description of an embodii ment thereof, Or Will be apparent tolthose skilled in the art. i .f n I To the attainment of thecbjects' and advantages. referred tothe present invention, consists inthe novel method; of, operation or manufacture, and the novelinfold or product, as 'well asthe novel features of combination, arrangement, constructiom. mode of action and detail, herein illhstrated,'or- 'described. I Thisapplicationis a division of anap. lie cation filed April 3, 1924, Serial er 703,951 .fr folding machine, method and. patented July 6,1926, No..1,591,613,

which may be referred to for many details,

including the preferred machine or apparatus for carryingput the method of'thisin vention and. imanufacturing the product hereof. H I

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1. shows aportion' of ablank of cloth; orothersheet material, having an acute cornento be folded, betweenv l and 90, the; dotted lines 1 indicating the:' lines of the eventual folds;

The general object is to afford an 1111 usually defined by a plate or templet during thev folding, as more fully explained in'the application of which this is a division. Figs.

2 to 4 illustrate intermediate steps in the from blanks. produced in accordance with the other figures. The collar shown in Fig. 6 is a turnover collar llitVlIlg the inside portionor collar band21 and the outsideport-ion orcol-lar top 22, the latter having an acute angled point 23, the angle being substantially less than 90 and greater than 1 The dotted lines indicate the arrangement of the interior folds or flaps as will be explained from the I other figures. It. will be understood that in constructing a collar top two folded blanks are assembled and stitched together with their infolded margins at the interior. In

the case illustrated each ofthe two blanksmay embody the present invention, and each blank may consist of. one or more plies. of fabric. The two blanks assembledtoform a collar top may have the folds or flaps. ope positely formed so that each may be tucked in under the other, forming what is known aswa lock corner, or this. feature may be omitted. I g I v p In order to descrlbe the steps in forming the folds, according to this invention, I start with the original fabric blank 24, the pertinent portion of wliichis shown in FigQL.

For convenience this is shown as a single ply blank. The dotted lines, 2.5.alongthe.

Side and 26 along. the end, indicate where the folds areto be. formechand correspond to the die and tothefinalshape of the folded blankand collar. The intersection oftheseis the acute angle corner 23, already mentioned. Outside of the. line 25 is the side margin 2.7 of the blank and at the end is: shown the margin 28,. while, at the corner isthe rhomboidal margin portion 29.

lVliile the blank, so described, is defined by a: diev orftemplet' the, margins are manip-.

ulated in a special way to produce an or.-

derly formation of the material-into definite flaps or folds which are laid over and positioned" in such a way as to minimizesthedifficulties beforev referred to. In general the method comprises the formation of an intermediate or upstanding flap of the excess material and laying this down flatly on top of one of the two lineal folds and then laying the other lineal fold or margin down flatly upon it. The progress is shown in the successive drawings, Figs. 1 to 6. In Fig. 2 the side margin 27 is shown bent up from the plane of the blank. This and the suc ceeding steps may be performed by mechanism such as shown in the prior application. In Fig. 2, while the side margin 27 is being folded along the line 25, the corner margin 29 appears in a warped condition, the initial stage in the formation of the intermediate flap or fold.

The completion of the infolding action along the side is indicated in Fig. 3. The margin 27 has been laid flatly down into its final position. The corner fabric portion 29 however has been formed into an upstanding loop, flap or fold 30. Vfhiie this may be effected in different ways, the prior applica tion shows mechanism by which a side infolding plate, with anotched formation near the apex 23, is adapted to produce the in termediate loop or flap 30.

The next stage, shown in Fig. 4, indicates the laying down fiatly upon the infold 27 of the loop or flap 30. The end margin 28 is yet unfolded with the exception that a portion 31 thereof, adjacent the corner of the blank, has been folded upon itself, as indicated in Fig. 4, during the formation of the flap 30. The intermediate flap or fold 30 is to be of such dimension that when laid down as in Fig. 4. it will lie wholly within the angle of the completed blank, and not project beyond the final outline.

The next operation is indicated by the final condition, shown in Fig. 5, in which the end margin 28 has been folded over, inwardly procedure may be varied.

and down upon the body of the blank and the flap 30. While the folded blank shown in Fig 5 is the preferred embodiment it may be varied somewhat within the scope of this invention. The specific steps and The product or infold is seen to be compact and free from bunching, wrinkling or other results which would tend to spoil the quality or saleability of the completed collar.

The completed collar, shown in Fig. 6,

may comprise the collar top 22 consisting merely of two folded blanks as in Fig. 5 assembled and stitched together. If a look corner is desired, it is only necessary to re verse the steps so that the end fold'28 is turned in first and the side fold 27 is turned in last. A blank so folded will interlock with a blank as in Fig. 5.

When the acute angle of the folded blank is to be less than 60 it is obvious that the described process must be modified to accommodate the entire fabric within the angle; and the principles of the present invention may be employed in different ways, for example by manipulating the infolders to produce two, instead of one, of the upstanding fiaps or folds 30; or in the case of a single fiap this may be folded back upon itself to prevent any portion of it standing out beyond the outline of the product.

The apparatus for carrying out the described product may be of any desired type or construction, but preferably, as disclosed. in said prior application, it comprises a blank supporting bed or pad, with a die or templet adapted to rest upon the blank and define the shape thereof, and movable infolders adapted to move in from the sides in a manner to carry out the presentprocess and produce the product hereof.

It will be noticed that the infolded blank tions or folds, and that there are an odd number of layers greater than three, namely five, but increased to seven if two intermediate flaps should be formed or one flap formed and folded back upon itself. Stated another way, the infolded blank comprises the inturned lineal margins which meet at the corner and one or more flaps or loops of material composed of the excess marginal material at the blank corner. The method involves the folding in of the two lineal margins, and arranging and laying down flatly in the form of flaps the excess corner material, preferably in advance of completing the lineal folds. In any case. there are five or more fiat layers of infolded fabric superimposed within the angle of the corner. The lineal folds and flaps are produced by three operations, or perhaps more. S'pecifically one lineal margin is folded in and down and the corner materialis formed into a flap and laid upon the first fold and then the second lineal margin, is foldedin upon that. All the operations are effected in immediate sequence, in the same machine, and without shifting of die or blank, an important factor in attaining commercial results.

The method hereof may be described as producing an infolded blank having an acute folded and to the second lineal margin 28 not yet infolded, with the hinge line between the doubled flap and the first infolded margin 27 lying between the fold lines 25 and 26 of the margins, as seen in Fig, 3, and then infolding the second lineal margin 28in and down upon such flap and'upon the first margin, giving the condition seen in Fig. 5; and the product or collar may be analogously described as having the intermediate doubled flap with its base hinged as stated; it being understood that the location of the hinge line between the fold lines 25 and 26 admits of its coinciding with one of them so long as it does not fall outside of, the acute angle between them.

It will thus be seen that there has been described a folding method, and a. folded blank or article, embodying the principles and attaining the advantages of the present invention. Since many matters of arrangement, combination, structure, order of steps and detail may be variously modified Without departing from the principles it is not intended to limit the invention to such matters except in so far as set forth in the appended claims.

I hat is claimed is:

1. The method of producing an infolded blank having an acute angled corner, formed by the fold lines of two infolded margins, comprising ini'olding the first of the two lineal margins adjacent such corner and forming the excess corner material into a doubled flap with its base hinged directly to the intolded first margin and the unfolded second margin, with the hinge line between the doubled flap and the infolded margin lying between the fold lines of the margins, and then infolding the second margin in and down upon such flap and the first margin.

I 2. A collar or analogous article having an acute angled corner and comprising an infolded blank with similar acute angled corner, formed by the fold lines of two infolded margins, and consisting of its body with an underlying ini'olded first lineal margin, adjacent such corner, and overlying that a doubled flap with its base hinged directly to the infolde-d first margin along a hinge line lying between the fold lines of the margins and directly upon the blank body, and above that the infolded second lineal margin similarly hinged to said flap. r

In testimony whereof, I have aiiixed my signature hereto.

WALTER L. D-IXON. 

